HEAP's Winter Crisis Program offers heating assistance

Heating assistance is available for residential customers who have been disconnected or are under threat being disconnected from their electricity or natural gas service.

Heating assistance is available for residential customers who have been disconnected or are under threat of being disconnected from their electricity or natural gas service.

The Winter Crisis Program, part of the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), can provide assistance to eligible households once per heating season through March 31.

The program also can assist with bulk fuel supplies and furnace repairs, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Ohio Development Services Agency.

To be eligible, a household's income must be at or below 175 percent of federal poverty guidelines. The threshold for a family of four would be $41,212.50, according to a press release.

To get Winter Crisis assistance, applicants must have a face-to-face interview. The local delegate agency is Stark County Community Action Agency at 330-454-1850

The PUCO also has a winter reconnect order, which allows residential customers of regulated electric and natural gas utilities to pay no more than $175 to maintain service. If service had been disconnected, there is a $36 reconnection fee.

The winter reconnect order doesn't have an income eligibility requirement, but customers are required to enter a payment plan for past-due bills.